I am looking for recommendations on what product or products to get to get a unified home security setup. Short version is that I am wanting at least 3 cameras because my property is kind of spread out:
One camera at the front gate (there is electricity, but it would have to get a wireless connection)
One camera outside on my workshop (has electricity and Cat6 available)
One camera basically where a doorbell would be (a “ring type” - also has electricity & Cat6 wiring)
All should have fairly high quality resolution (if you can’t make out a license plate, the image it pretty useless). Day or night. Here is the trick - I do not want any monthly charges, period. All recording should be on my home PC and viewable from there AS well as an app on my android phone.
Notice he or she said “where a doorbell would be”, implying it can merely be a camera. The poster is way ahead of the game with Cat6 available. I’m curious to see what people recommend. There are SO many vendors in the “space”.
I did a lot of the work myself when we built the house 15 years ago. Being in IT for 40+ years, I made sure the house was wired - including running cat6 not just in the house, but to the adjacent outbuildings (workshop & tractor barn).
I’ve always thought for license plate reading on the (relatively) cheap, a still image camera would be a better solution than video. Game cameras offer the resolution (16-24 MP is common, and higher is available), and most can take multiple shots when triggered. One problem, however, is that even the ones that offer WiFi appear to connect directly to a mobile device rather than join a WiFi network.
I didn’t realize that I had made this post almost a year ago and was just about to post an almost identical question again. But I do have a few things to add:
First is an image of the layout showing where the 3 cameras I want to be placed:
The “Gate camera” is 99% for reading license plates as people come onto the property - it would be mounted on a cedar fence post about 3’ off the ground and pointed directly back toward the house. Note that the distance from the gate camera to the house is ~170’. There is a 110v outlet on the gate already (for Christmas lights); there is a wifi signal coming from the carport (I have outside wifi routers to supply a good signal to pretty much all parts of our 6.5 acre property). I will need a box of some sort to mount this camera since neither a magnet nor tape will be sufficient to mounting to a cedar fence post.
The carport camera would be mounted on a steel 4x4 post about 6’ from the ground so it can get good facial recognition (cameras placed up high are virtually useless for identifying people unless they just happen to look up at the camera). There is a 110v outlet in the top corner of that carport. There is also a wifi router mounted in that same corner under the roof. I desperately do not want to use a simple magnet to hold the camera onto the steel post - I want it be to screwed in and mounted SECURELY.
The front door camera needs to be a doorbell type camera - mounted about 5’ off the ground - on to brick. Again, neither a magnet nor tape will work for mounting this camera. I can do a penetration through the brick to provide 110v power to this camera if needed. The wifi signal inside the house is still strong on the front porch.
Would a dual pack of the Wise Cam v3 work for the gate & carport or do I need the Outdoor cam? What about the Video Doorbell Pro on the front door?
How much is the subscription for 3 camera?
100%,. The only reason I can think of to stick with the WCO is if PIR detection is a deal breaker for that individual use case instead of a v3 or similar at a powered location.
